Ashtead Group, a London-listed company, has recently released a handout photo showcasing an example of Sunbelt Rentals’ hire equipment. The company cited various reasons for its downbeat outlook, including a quieter hurricane season and fewer naturally occurring events such as wildfires. Ashtead, which competes with United Rentals in the U.S., serves construction, emergency response, and entertainment markets in the U.S., UK, and Canada. The company rents out equipment from diggers to construction tools and is known for its Sunbelt Rentals brand in its largest market of the U.S.

The impact of the Hollywood actors’ and writer’s strikes affected its film and television business in Canada and had some impact on the rest of the Canadian, U.S., and UK businesses that rent into that space. Despite this setback, Ashtead still expects its annual profit to come in below market expectations due to lower emergency response activity and a more than $2 billion depreciation charge for the year. In addition to this, the company has lowered its annual group and U.S. rental revenue growth forecast and said net interest costs would amount to about $540 million for the year.